Yes, Toomey fabricated a problem. But he drew the short straw, since he voted for impeachment of Trump, and since he is not running for another term, his Republican comrades delegated the task of "fabricating a problem" to him.
I mean twenty plus senators and their staff failed to see the problem back in June when the bill passed overwelmingly. In fact, that the spending was classified as mandatory because it is standard practice with heath care financing, across all federal platforms. Republicans got pissed that Manchin finally came to an agreement on a watered down BBB bill and Biden was going to be able to deliver at least some what of a legislative accomplishment. The very next morning Toomey filed his amendment. Jordan spoke out and said no Republicans should be working on any bipartisan bills. And the bill came back to the Senate, with two very minor changes and neither having anything to do with how the spending was classified, over twenty Republican senators changed their votes, marching in lockstep with their almighty leader, McConnell because, well they don't have balls big enough to speak for themselves or vote for their constituents.
They thought it would work. The made a full court press Sunday on all the Sunday news shows. They tweeted, they posted on Facebook. And they lied, bald-faced lies about last minute changes in classification of spending or claims about shifting funds. They completely distorted the differences between mandatory and discretionary spending. And honestly, if enough Americans were as stupid and gullible as the moron Trumpbots on this board, they would have gotten away with it. The fact that they were more than willing to throw countless Vets under the bus in the process should never be forgotten.
But by Monday morning it was evident, their ruse didn't work. I mean look, when a simple ass redneck living in the sticks at the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains can check out the Congressional Record, post and print the two different versions of the bill, and lucidly explain the difference between mandatory and discretionary spending, well it is safe to say that thousands, hundreds of thousands, including Jon Stewart, could do the same. While the right wing media continued to attempt to beat the dead horse, Veterans associations, the current secretary of the VA, and countless other, non-political individuals, countered with truth.
I got to give it to Schumer here. He was more than gracious. He allowed votes on Toomey's amendments, and Blackburn's too. He gave them an out. Now they can attempt to continue to perpetuate their lies and claim they gave it the "old college try". If it were me, I would have told them to piss off, no votes on the amendment, they can go on record as supporting those Vets or not, period. You know McConnell would have done exactly that.
All the amendments failed. The bill passed exactly as it was last week. Nothing, absolutely nothing, changed. The only thing that changed was the fact that Republicans realized they had underestimated the sheer ignorance of the American electorate. Got to admit, that is surprising, but comforting as well. What is important here is that the Republicans are like the emperor with no clothes. Their political manipulation, Vets be damned, has been completely revealed. It should never be forgotten.
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